Where Are They Now: Ryan Rowland-Smith

In this new series of posts, “Where are they now”, I would like to talk about some of the Mariners departures this offseason and where they are now playing. First on the list is Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Ryan Rowland-Smith began his professional career in 2000 when he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Mariners. The Australian Born, lefthanded pitcher, made his major league debut in 2007 with the Mariners at the age of 24. Rowland-Smith posted solid numbers in 2008-2009 but things began to crumble apart in 2010. Between 2008 and 2009, he went 10-7 with an ERA of 3.58. It looked as through Rowland-Smith was beginning to put things together but 2010 went terribly bad. He went 1-10 with a 6.75 ERA. Rowland-Smith was placed on the DL with a back strain. After, he spent a lot of time in AAA Tacoma.  

Rowland-Smith decided to test the free agent market after the 2010 season. The 28 year old, 6’3” 240lb pitcher signed with the Houston Astros for a one year $725,000 deal. Rowland-Smith is a very cheap option for the Astros and he could be a nice surprise for them. He won’t be pitching in the friendly compounds of Safeco, which may hurt him a little, but Minute Maid Park is a pretty neutral park. We could find him in the back-end of the Astros rotation, and if not there he would be a decent lefthanded option for the Astros in the bullpen. If he gets his BB/9 back down to normal, Rowland-Smith could get back to his old-self.

Rowland-Smith is certainly a hard worker and I assume he has been working very hard this offseason. He is a great guy and it would be great to see him get his career back on track. He was a fan favorite in Seattle and he received many emotional good byes from Mariners fans on Twitter. Seattle is wishing you the best of luck, Hyphen.